Beans are an excellent source of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins and minerals, and as such are a highly nutritious and important part of the human diet. In the United States, beans are consumed primarily in the cooked and canned state. Cooking and canning the beans provides numerous advantages. For example, cooked beans are easier to digest than raw beans. Also, canned beans are shelf stable and can be stored for long periods of time. Additionally, cooked and canned beans are often mixed with sauces, such as tomato sauce when sold as pork and beans, and in chili preparations. These sauce-containing, cooked bean products are especially popular, due primarily to their taste.
However, as with many cooked products, special measures must be taken to provide cooked beans having a desirable texture and appearance. One such measure is to hydrate the beans prior to cooking. Beans which are not hydrated tend to take longer to cook and often the skin of the bean cracks, producing an unappealing product. The three major methods used to hydrate beans are: soaking beans for 8-16 hours at room temperature; blanching beans in hot water, typically 180.degree.-212.degree. F., for 20-40 minutes; and high-temperature, short-time steam infusion for 20-30 minutes. Unfortunately, each of these different methods have various drawbacks. For example, soaking beans for 8-16 hours is a very time-intensive operation. Furthermore, both blanching beans in hot water and subjecting the beans to a high-temperature, short-time steam infusion are both energy intensive, as well as being somewhat time intensive. Thus it would be desirable to devise a method of hydrating beans which is not time intensive and not energy intensive. The present invention provides such a process.